Taine Plumtree (born 9 March 2000) is a Welsh professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who plays as a flanker for the

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

in the

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

. Plumtree began his career with

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

in the NPC, and played for the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

. Plumtree has represented

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, making his debut on 5 August 2023.

Club career

Wellington and Blues

Plumtree was a member of the

2020 Mitre 10 Cup The 2020 Mitre 10 Cup season was the fifteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on September 11, when North Harbour hosted Canterbury. It involved the top ...

squad. He was named in the Blues squad for the

2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa season The 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa season (branded as Sky Super Rugby Aotearoa for sponsorship reasons) was a professional club rugby union tournament organised by New Zealand Rugby. Announced on 11 November 2020, the tournament was the second sea ...

, making his debut during the season. Plumtree scored a hattrick for Wellington against Northland in the opening round of the

2021 Bunnings NPC The 2021 Bunnings NPC season was the sixteenth season of New Zealand's provincial rugby union competition since it turned professional in 2006. The regular season began on August 6, when Manawatu hosted Counties Manukau. It involved the top f ...

Scarlets

On 27 June 2023, Plumtree signed for the

. Plumtree made his first Scarlets appearance in a preseason friendly against the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

, along with fellow new signing

Ioan Lloyd Ioan Lloyd (born 5 April 2001) is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for United Rugby Championship club Scarlets and the Wales national team. Club career Early years Lloyd won the 2015 Dewar Shield with Cardiff ...

. Plumtree and Lloyd made their competitive debuts for the Scarlets together against the

Bulls Bulls may refer to: *The plural of bull, an adult male bovine *Bulls, New Zealand, a small town in the Rangitikei District Sports *Bucking bull, used in the sport of bull riding *Bulls (rugby union), a South African rugby union franchise operated ...

on the Scarlets’ South African tour.

International career

New Zealand U20

Plumtree was part of the New Zealand U20 squad for the

2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the twelfth edition of the premier age-grade competition for rugby. The tournament was held in Argentina for the second time, having been hosted there in 2010. Defending champions France won the un ...

Wales

On 3 July 2023, Plumtree joined the

squad for their

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

training camp in Switzerland. Despite representing New Zealand U20, Plumtree qualified for Wales via birth, and was not bound to New Zealand. Plumtree made his debut on 5 August 2023, coming off the bench for Wales in the first test of their 2023 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches, against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Plumtree missed out on selection for the final squad due to a shoulder injury. On 4 November 2023 Plumtree played for Wales in a friendly against the Barbarians, coming off the bench and scoring a try. A recurrence of a shoulder injury ruled him out of the

2024 Six Nations Championship The 2024 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Men's Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was a rugby union competition that took place in February and March 2024, and featured the men's national teams of England national rugby union tea ...

Personal life

The son of former New Zealand sevens player and rugby coach

John Plumtree John Plumtree is a professional rugby union coach and former first class provincial rugby player. He was previously the head coach for the Hurricanes and the , which competes in the Super Rugby and Currie Cup competitions. As a player Plumtree ...

, Taine was born in Wales while his father coached

Swansea RFC Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Welsh Premiership. The club play at St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea and are also known as ''The Whites,'' in reference to their home kit colours. History ...

, and later moved to South Africa when John was head coach of the

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

. Plumtree also qualified internationally for South Africa, through his mother. Taine and his brother Reece both attended

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin *Wellington College, Wellington, New Z ...

and played for their rugby team.

References

External links

itsrugby.co.uk profileScarlets profileBlues profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Plumtree, Taine 2000 births New Zealand rugby union players Living people Rugby union locks Rugby union flankers Wellington rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Scarlets players Welsh rugby union players Wales international rugby union players People educated at Wellington College, Wellington